What if all headphones sounded the same...?
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- Опубліковано 14 гру 2021
- ... would you still be able to tell the difference?
ABX 5 headphones equalized to the same frequency response: FLAC 96/24 - cutt.ly/2YNcfSA
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Hi, Oluv! Thank you for the good experiment! I was made the same test some time ago (there is a video on my channel). The one problem here is phase alignment between channels. It can cause a slight difference even between headphones with the same frequency response (particularly in the bass region). File D in your test has this problem most obviously. But there is a simple solution. You need to record left and right channels of music through only one (left or right) cup of headphones. Then you need to join a resulting mono sequence of the left and right channels to stereo. Adding impulse signal to the original music helps to align them precisely. I can help you with it if you want. Files will be even more similar than they already are! All these slight phase shifts will totally disappear.
You are a freakin genius. Still impressed by your video when you EQ-ed the Soundcore and compared with Sony XM4.
Impressive! The middle frequencies (particularly the voices) of D and E are different from A,B and C. The two (D and E) seem closer to each other. While A,B and C look better and more similar to each other. But overall, it's really impressive what you get with the EQ. A, B and C are difficult to distinguish.
You can judge differences in frequency response of headphones listening to samples of their sound through another headphone, but nothing else I think. Things like distortion levels, transient response, timbre differences due to different driver materials, cup reflections or phase behaviour will all be impossible to hear without physically hearing the actual headphones making the sound.
Correct , we are hearing for the most our system performance
correct.
if i were to make a hierarchy of importancy in portable music systems it still would be the FR for me which needs to be EQ adjusted for my own pair of ears. after that comes distortion levels, then transient response.
what does speed matter if the sound is still an unnatural mess
True, although I would argue that frequency response doesn't have to be perfect. As long as it is sufficiently even, our brains can adapt to it and make it sound normal to us over time.
So glad to see you mentioning the KSC75 being the better Koss entry. Still have a pair mounted to the Porta Pro headband in my drawer, still my fav light and cheap cable headphones to date.
How difficult is that mod to apply?
@@exodia275 It‘s not really a mod, both models simply clip on. So, it‘s just a simple pop off / pop on move.
I love my KSC75's. For the price, they're incredible. They don't really compare to the higher end headphones in terms of quality or sound signature, but when it comes to localization of sounds, they outshine even my Sundara's and HD600's, which I find utterly maddening.
They truly punch above their weight class.
Porta pro driver has cleaner decay/less ringing than Ksc75 driver around upper midrange/low treble (2-5 kHz). You can see it in measurements. Whether or not that is audible is a different story. Also, Porta pro driver has more extension in the bass even when both are on same headband. 35 Hz is pretty obvious with it, whereas Ksc75 drops off a cliff below 45 Hz.
@@vm6038 In the end, all that matters is how I perceive the sound in person. And I loved my Porta Pros for years, but then KSC75 were a revelation in clarity and balance (to me). Afterwards, I couldn‘t get back to the rather muddy, boomy bass (still super impressive for its size) of the Porta Pros. Nowadays, I only use wireless earbuds anyways. Convenience plays a big roll, and my music is coming from a smartphone in 95% of my listening sessions.
Hi Oluv, very interesting video, thank you.
I listened your files and I can't find a difference between these (FR or soundstage). I didn't read the comments btw.
But, if I can easily hear a FR difference in your video, the soundstage is pretty close between these headphones.
I listen with a Focal Clear OG. Beautiful sound but poor soundtage btw (but it's amazing with HRTF effects like PS5 3D audio or sxfi)
I compared the "focal clear" to the "HD 800S" at a retailer and the difference in soundstage was big. Even the HD560S has better soundstage than my Clear (but so bright...)
So, I don't think you can hear all the features of a headset just with a binaural recording. That would explain why I don't feel big differences in soundstage in your video.
What do you think about that ?
They all sound same u did a great job at matching them!
Interesting! I've given it a try and need to come back to it when I've got more time, but quickly comparing all samples I get the impression it's going to be very difficult to tell everything apart.
This would be a great experiment for conventions like CanJam or something with the actual headphones for everyone to test.
Amazing. I downloaded the folder and I find the results astonishing. I really struggled to choose the better one, and after I did, I couldn't choose the same for a second time. I think you proved your point and i think this is some of the most original and eye opening input into the ocean of subjective opinions that is the audiophile world. Could you make a statement, on one sentence or "abstract" about what you think are your conclusions? Congrats.
Oluv, a much needed heresy. No one I've seen is voicing such a salient message. Coming from a long two channel experience to headphones, I'm finding headphones especially vastly vague. So many subjective reviewers and reviews are simply giving passes to mediocre audio performance and distortion as just differences. These distortions force us into experimenting with gear, mixing and matching, until we find an alignment of distortions that match our subjective sonic preferences.
If a recorded/reproduced signal arrived at our brains with out any intervening alteration, then every piece of gear delivering the sound would more likely sound the same (of course our brains are hardly distortionless).
The statement you made in one of your recent videos is true: that sonic performance and cost are not necessarily positively correlated. This is also true for many, many other things.
The electronics we have today are excellent. Incredible performance at reasonable prices and convenient shapes and sizes. This wasn't always this way. Now we have to bring the electromechanical part at the end of the chain to the same level.
Spot on, like always, Oluv.
there is something similar in video monitors for example , you can calibrate them to show REC 709 colour space, but all monitors cant be calibreated to the max 100% . So, even if you try to calibrate them, there will be differences (all the panels are not the same )... maybe its the same with headphones ? Can all headphones produce the same treble, bass etc? Headphones drivers, materials, construction etx play some roll ?
O no! Where is “hi there and welcome”(((((((
Interesting test! with my own headphones I find that even with adjusting them to the same curve they still have weaknesses/ strong points. What Hifiman is it in this test? It looks like HE5XX but the writing is for HE4XX.
5XX
Sounded remarkably similar to me. All slightly different, but B and C sounded somehow clearer and with less channel imbalance. Of those two, B seemed to have more clarity, but less midbass "punch", although kind of the same "amount".
Listened with Beyerdynamic DT250 on low volume.
Another great video ... i'm waiting on the review of any focal close back headphones, maybe Eligia, Can you?
I've posted the comment on your Patreon page. I strongly suggest everybody to subscribe because his content is awesome. Anyone who has been following Oluv for some time knows about his 100% honest thoughts
have you tried the koss kph30i over the ksc75? i found them to be slightly better, certainly more comfortable than ear hooks but its plastic gets brittle fast, heard lots of cases where the headband broke.
KPH30i are really mid-bassy if I remember correctly (my headband also broke and I do not care to reorder them) which is something I particularly don't like in headphones and KSC75 just has that great treble, so I'm still partial to the KSC75. Of course I'm strictly talking without EQ.
@@Cobalt985 mid-bass does take the front seat on the KPH30is, good treble but not enough extension, sub-bass is barely there too because the upper bass is more prominent.
I have always wanted you to do this. What target did you tune them to?
Also I would prefer to hear the demos directly here on UA-cam if you could do that.
It’s copyrighted music and UA-cam compression is too strong to hear something
@@oluvsgadgets Is the UA-cam compression that bad?
@@Terra101 UA-cam compression is pretty bad. Even though the demos could probably be hosted on youtube without much issue, I do think it'd be better just to have individual flacs for this kind of test. Also, copyrighted music. Yay!
Absolutely love these videos and I would DEFINITELY support you if I was old enough to get a steady income, but the time will come! Really you were the first to get me into audiophile related stuff and equalizing
Man, the portapro sounds exactly like this recording in real life haha, good job
They all sound similar to me.
Keep in mind tho that not everyone has in-ear mics and for them it will be hard to really equalise the FR. There are still interactions between the headphone and listener that these recordings won’t account for unless your name is oluv (the difference between headphones is different for every listener), and maybe some headphones are better at interacting with our ears?
To me, it would be like recording a stereo setup with the speakers in front of you vs behind, and then matching the recordings with EQ. The recordings will sound similar, but that doesn't give the whole picture. They're going to interact with your head in a different way when you actually listen to them. I know we don't see those kinds of interactions in headphones, but I feel like there's room for stuff like this unless your ears happen to perfectly match the averaged ears (or have in-ear mics).
It's still interesting to see these comparisons because they clearly show FR at the ear is pretty much everything, but getting headphones to match at the ear is not easy without in-ear mics, and even then, there are still issues because we can't EQ everything (like the dip around 10k).
actually it's easier to compare with room-compensated linear studio monitors because the sound will enter your earcanal as natural as possible. with headphones/in-ears you'd need a earcanal compensated EQ, which needs lots of listening experience to accomplish.
My preference results:
A
C
B
E
D
My guesses:
A is Koss Porta Pro, it sounds the narrowest which would correspond to on-ear drivers being closer to the in-ear microphones. It also has the least amount of bass extension on Song #3.
B is the AKG BT headphone, it sounds slightly narrower than the other open-back headphones but wider than the on-ear headphone. It also has more bass extension on Song #3 than the other semi-open/open-back headphones.
C is AKG 240 Studio, it sounds slightly wider than the closed-back headphone but not as wide as the open-back headphones.
D is Hifiman HE4XX, its sound presentation is subtly different (and worse IMO) from all the other dynamic driver headphones. Bass also extends more on Song #3 than the other open-back headphones.
E is Sennheiser HD 800S, its stereo width is as wide as the HE4XX but its presentation matches the other dynamic driver headphones.
Other notes:
-The cymbals on track #5 seem to be inconsistent between headphones, on A and E they sound panned to the left and on B, C, and D they sound panned to the right.
Tested with Sennheiser HD 6XX out of an Apple USB-C to 3.5mm dongle in Audacium.
Oluv, we are a four men band playing louder and faster rock with closed over-ear headphones monitoring, what would be your top over-ear headphones for rehearsals? currently i thinking about using the sennheiser hd300 ProTECT. i tested five different headphones.
I'm not Oluv obviously but I've heard the Beyerdynamic DT150 is good for live recording. InnerFidelity's .PDF shows really high isolation compared to most other "studio monitors". Frequency response easurements show a big hump at 200Hz which would cause boxiness, but according to solderdude, the EDT 100T pads for the DT100 fix this at the expense of isolation.
your text said HE 4XX on the HE 5XX
could you add Dekoni Elite Hybrid pads (their about $70 but id argue they are worth it) to your HE4XX (and 5XX) and let me know what you think?
I like how you record samples
For me, the best sounds option E, while A and B being very close. C and D sound the worst to me. But it's important to listen to the well recorded songs. For example, the song that starts at 4:40 and finishes at 6:10 is quite bad for testing and it's no difference of you listen to A, B, C, D or E. The song quality matters most when you listen to judge sound quality, soundstage etc. Then the headphones and finally the dac and amp or whatever equipment. The last one doesn't really matter almost, unless it's really crap, you won't hear a difference. The song that starts at 3:02 and finishes at 4:38 is the best for testing A, B, C, D, E. I can hear the difference in soundstage. I haven't tested the other songs though. Just a few. Congratulations for the work that you put, Oluv. Really appreciate it.
I think it would have been awesome to compare this method for open back with open back And close back with close back to be more fair comparison with eliminating the most physical differences.
love ur videos 🙌
This basically proves EQ is the ultimate tool for getting the best sound possible. If i had to pick a favourite i'd say C, it sounds clearer to me but only by a slight amount, i think i'd be happy listening to any of these. This test has really been eye opening for me, what you're doing is amazing.
Do you think there are cheap headphones out there that have really good drivers but need EQ to reveal themselves?
I have been wondering for a little while now, I do agree that good EQ does wonders for the sound but it's not all there is to it to deliver.
My first thoughts go to some of the older beyers since they seem to have too much treble, tho from what I have heard from other people they are "detailed", does it mean that with good EQ they would perform very well compared to other pairs or is it just the effect of harsh treble?
Best headphones for beginner hifi audiophile to start out with prob be the hifiman sundras
Höchst beeindruckend. Man hört durchaus Unterschiede, aber einige Kopfhörer klingen verdammt ähnlich. Meine Präferenz in absteigender Reihenfolge: B>A>C>E>D. Ich höre vorwiegend Metal, das hat ja immer einen Einfluss auf den "Geschmack". Jetzt bin ich gespannt welche Kopfhörer sich dahinter verbergen. Spitzenmäßige EQ Arbeit Oluv!
Overall very similar tunning. After listening to ABC, D sounded too bassy and E too muddy.
A and B almost identical. To my ear C is the best, most clear vocals.
I'm listening with DT770pro oratory1990 profile (not sure if its good, but i like it :)
it's easy to see if an EQ profile is good. just run songs with natural sound effects that include drum kits and voices. if they sound like right in front of you without any curtains/veil, it's the perfect setting for you. what oluv wants to prove here is that, every headphone will sound different from one another, because everyone has a unique earcanal resonance signature that needs its own "room compensation" EQ so to speak. this means, it doesnt really matter how much money you spend on headphones/inears, as long as the EQ isn't adjusted to your earcanals resonances.
C sounded the best for me as it sounded more dynamic ( more fun to listen to ) than others using mh752 headset with Oratory1990s EQ
Good morning mr Oluv headpones Focal Elex do not arrive in Italy🙄🤔how can buy It?🖐️
I loaded every sample into Audacity to switch fast between the samples, heard it with DT990 pro's. D sounded harsh especially the tambourine in track 3, and in track 4 D has a weird soundstage. Besides that, only the soundstage and location of sounds were different between all the samples, but in general everything sounds so similar that I couldn't tell them apart and also wouldn't care because differences are too small. A blind test would make it impossible for me to tell which is which, but even without blind test difference is so small, that if you don't only listen to music but also make other stuff, you will lose focus and the micro details doesn't matter anymore anyways. Now also take the price difference into consideration, for me that's crystal clear diminishing returns.
That doesn't mean that even the cheapest headphones will do it, but as long as the headphones can produce all the frequencies without distortion that's the minimum and maybe also maximum someone needs. My IEM for example simply can't produce the same bass below 50Hz, even with EQ, like my DT990's and also the soundstage is different. That's a clear sign that there is room for improvement for my IEM, but I guess my equalized DT990 are above 95% of what I could get.
Edit: Now that I've read other comments, D looks like the worst one for a lot of people, that's a sign that this headphone is below the minimum standards a headphone should have, that I've described above. I'm really excited to know which one it is.
For me, the B has some noticable sparkle left, so I would say that's the AKG. And C could be the 800S because of the wider center image. Otherwise I'm not sure. E could be the Porta pro, but just guessing.
Hi Mr.O! What Binaural Mics in ears do you use? Tnx 4 replay. V
They are custom built
Oluv.
Could you please get your hands on the diamondboxx L 3?
Trust me. It's the BOMB.
I'm curious to see you put it up against anything.
Nothing can touch this beast.
Purely judging by sound quality . Which is the best between AKG K361 wired vs Anker Soundcore Q30 (with User Eq) ?
My guess after 15 minutes of listening through an HE4XX heavily EQed to preference, is:
A = K240
B = HD800S
C = HE5XX
D = Porta Pro
E = N700
I have got completely different results but we'll see in the next video who was closer
We got A, C, and D the same. It is great to see that we differ on B and E, Specially for the bass.
By looking at the Audio spectrum you can see that file B is the one with the least detail. File E contains a bit more detail than file B. Then file C has noticably more detail than file E and file A has like 10% more detail. Then there's file D that has 50% more detail than file A.
I first made my HD600 (to test for open backs) and HD569 (to test for closed backs) flat with sonarworks and emulated all headphones through eq. I listened to each track once with the hd600 and once with the hd569 and that's the sequence I came up with that sounds correct to me:
-File B is the koss porta pros
-File E is the Wireless ones
File C is the planar magnetic ones
File A is the old akg
File D is the HD800s
I was expecting the wireless ones to sound correct with file B due to the least quality but I think that it has to do with the fact that high frequencies get lost with on ears so I am pretty sure that the one with the least detail is the koss porta pros.
Will certainly do this as soon as I get my Q30s and add your custom EQ next week.
Thank you for your recommendation of the Q30 I am loving them
You have done a great job equalizing these headphones, as they are not easy to tell apart. I believe most people would be happy with either of them. How many bands of parametric eq are being used? Care to share the data?
i think it's a waste of time to share the data. every headphone have variations in their FR so you can't copy/paste. also the FR in his testing is adjusted to his own ears. this is not important for any other than him.
@@cuerex8580 it is important for his ego probably
@@ProgInside83 what do you mean?
@@cuerex8580 I`m just curious, I have my own setup for tweaking.
@@deepdownstudios he uses Apo and probably tuned it by ear
Been through a lot of headphones and decided instead of owning a whole wall of headphones, I'd try some EQ. Bought a Schiit Lokius tone control/EQ and now adjust whatever I think a headphone needs to make it pleasing to my ears. Lokius is especially handy with a headphone like the HD 800s where you can add some Bass and smooth the treble. I decided this was the better route than searching for the perfect headphone
this is a beautiful thing. certainly different from asserting that you can turn a headset like porta pro into a sundara or a utopia
Good idea and exercise.
My ranking list:
A) good resolution, wide, accurate bass, trebles little spikey (HD 800? )
C) small, dry, medium resolution, accurate + stable panning (K240?)
B) big, wide, warm, medium resolution, tad metallic trebles
E) fat, big, speaker like, some L/R imbalance in trebles (measurement?)
D) bass boomy, swaps to the right side, overall unbalanced
There seems to be some imbalance in the panning.
I guess that this might come from the measurements and I find it hard to judge the different models like this.
Though I like your audio comparisons and I think that it can give an overall impression, when comparing headphones.
---edit
PS: Im listening through ATH R70x which I like a lot :)
Odpowiadam na pytanie tytulowe. Jesli wszystkie brzmialy by tak samo, zwlaszcza pod wzgledem dopasowania do twojego gustu to nie mial bys co robic i na co narzekac ;) Pozdrawiam
This is my order A,B,C,E,D from best to worst with my DT-770 pro 250ohm. The differences with A, B and C were very small to me.
I agree that EQ got some ability, headphones got however some resonances which makes it impossible to do the same, also if they are incapable of low end, cannot tune them to more bass.
I love open back mainly because I can hear what's going on around me. I also like great cheap headphones, hidden dragon like performers. Lately I'm interested in OneOdio pro50, that got dream like EQ response, but it's hardly reviewed unlike some famous brands...
My guess ( Listening with EQed HiFi MAN ANANDA ) :
A good base natural and extended highs natural midrange wide soundstage >> HD800s
B good base natural highs + some rolloff natural midrange wide soundstage >> porta pro ??
C tight base extended highs + sharp edge natural midrange medium stage >> HE5XX
D loose base soft highs - least extended unnatural midrange small stage >> N700
E good base natural highs + some rolloff natural midrange medium stage >> k240 ??
I have to admit only D stood out being more different from the bunch, the rest are very similar .
I have the KSC 75. It is good. However I find it nothing special out of my phone, but when I plug it into topping dx3pro+ I can see why it gets such a praise for the price range.
I have the same experience with a sony nw-a55 (using Mr Walkman's awesome firmware mod) in comparison to my phone. My porta pros and iems sound more refined and controlled out of the dap. I am a big fan of porta pros stock for casual listening. For all its flaws, I like how something so innocuous can produce the presentation it does i.e prominent mids with a growl in the bass region whilst retaining pretty decent imaging despite a rolled off treble region.
Your phone might have a high output impedance on the jack which would affect the frequency response. Otherwise, it shouldn't really sound better out of a different source unless you're playing it louder and you're hearing "more details" due to the effects of the Fletcher-Munson curve.
My preference from best to worst:
B > C > A > E > D
The C audio was louder though. Now let's hope B is the cheapest headphone :D
do you like etymotic iems?
and thank goodness they sound different even on my desktop speakers; making everything sound the same is incredibly boring.
moral of the story: it doesnt really matter how much money you spend on headphones/inears, as long as the FR isn't adjusted to your earcanals resonances.
Can you explain about the amfiton (амфитон 50ас-022) speakers?
wrong channel
Very impressive how "the same" they sound when being tuned "flat".
This is a huge different to their original tuning what the producer of those headphones achived!
All of them sound much better than the recording here in this video.
First i thought the FLACs are just the same recording from one headphone and you're trying to fool us here but then i looked at the spectrum.
After seeing the FLAC recrodings in spectrum visualizer i can visually see a small difference between the peaks.
But audio wise unfortunately my ears seem not to be able to hear big differences any more with my 38 years and 3 different headphones😫
ABC sound pretty much the same even playing them almost simultaneously D & E not so clear but more bass heavy.
I think i prefer C since the instruments where more present for me.
Dont think they have exactly the same FR. Because D and E has noticeably more treble than the other 3. I noticed that A has punchier/dryer base response especially the very first heavy drum beat in between 1 and 2 second - not sure it is explainable by FR. Overall I like the sound of C, followed by B. For me D and E are just a bit too harsh while A a bit too dry/dull. I'm using earfun free pro 2 with your smooth tuning (which is super nice BTW)
Also we are using our device with their own soundstage, details etc..
if all open and close backs sounded the same what's the point really?
Headphones/IEM's a "mostly" affordable and practical way to experience different flavours of sound in comparison to speaker systems.
2 Sony headphones that I like and recommend - MDR-CD900ST for close and MDR-MA900 for open.
My first entry to planar is the Hifiman HE400S, nice sounding but the cable is terrible. The Fostex T50RP, in stock form/no mods, I like better but needs a good amp.
anyone knows the track ID he’s playing?
the lyrics are
i'll get it together
i'll open my eyes
i'm checking the weather
i'm giving the skies
you don't have to love me
i'll find someone new
i'll pick myself up
Did you find the song?
@@GFP1950 not yet!
I’ve searched through every possible means I can think of and came up empty. It doesn’t SOUND like an unreleased song. I did discover Oluv’s playlists on Spotify but there are hundreds of songs there. I suppose we will just have to hope he sees our comments and let’s us know. He DEFINITELY has the best “test music.”
@@GFP1950 Thanks for your insight. My guess would be that he produced it himself just for testing purposes because indeed this song cannot be found anywhere...
Sehr geile Sache. Wie zu erwarten war, verschwinden die Unterschiede merklich. Aber man hört tatsächlich subtile Differenzen. Es erscheint lohnenswert sich damit eine zeitlang und über mehrere Tage zu beschäftigen.
Im Moment würde ich nur D ausschließen. Zu verwaschen im Bass. Könnte der Porta Pro sein. Muss aber nicht ;)
A erscheint mir am spektakulärsten und luftigsten zu klingen. Ist aber manchmal etwas drüber und leicht silbrig.
E wirkt am sanftesten, aber vielleicht auch etwas (dynamisch?) flach.
Zwischen B und C scheinen die Unterschiede am geringsten zu sein, wobei B mir etwas runder und geschlossener klingt.
B wäre im Moment mein Favorit, beim Rock-Song vielleicht eher C...
Aber vielleicht ändert sich meine Meinung auch in den nächsten Tagen nochmal. Ich editiere den Beitrag dann...
Hm okay I am impressed... all the audios sound incredibly similar. Except sample D...it sounds a bit of..weird soundstage and mids. C was also a bit different but not necessarily worse or better. I had a very hard time telling a differenc bettween A, B and E but after going through all the genres E is clearly a bit darker. A and B are just way to similar. I can hear differences but I cannot define what they are.
To be honest... based on these demos I would be very happy with all these headphones except D. I'm very curious to find out which is which.
My useless predictions:
Though, to be honest, I would pick any to listen to music, they all sound so good.
A- AKG 240, airy but this is the one with the most highs and light on the bass
B- AKG N700 m2 - It has that closed back sound, clean but heavy bass.
C- Hifiman HE4XX - Almost sounds the same as the E. Very clean.
D- Porta Pro - This is the only one i'm most sure of. The bass is close sounding. Though, I know I'm wrong
E - HD800s To me, the cleanest bass sounding, with the most pleasant highs.
Surprised how they all sound so close, being $1000 appart.
Thanks!
Edit: After reading everyone else's comments, these are my conclusions.
1. There are definitely audible differences.
2. There are different prefrences among these.
3. Soundstage is definitely audible here. PRTF has a small contribution, the recording is +90% the reason there is soundstage.
Personal conclusion: Once EQd, you will find more joy by actually listening to good sounding recordings on EQd $15 KSC75 headphones than bad recordings on HD800s
By the way, here is an interview with Sean Olive, the Acoustic Research Fellow at HARMAN International. Yeah, Frequency response is the most important bit when it comes to sound.
ua-cam.com/video/FD_5tj9yPdk/v-deo.html
E is HD 800s. This is the only one I'm confident about
Weird that the HD800 sounded chopped like noise reduction, not as clean as most of the others.
Von den in dem Video gezeigten Kopfhörern ist mit Abstand der Senheiser mein Favorit. Ein absolut geiler Kopfhörer!!!
I listened on earpods. I don't know which is where.
A B sound similar to me, I'd throw E here as well
C I like better of all as I can just let it play and not be bothered
D is strangely wide didn't like
Surprised no video on anker q45
Here are my results. I have listened to the 5 samples in alphabetical order, taking notes on what I was hearing, then took another listen at sample A because I couldn't compare it to anything else the first time.
Sample A: Sparkling, airy sound signature with good soundstage but not so good imaging and a slightly muffled bass region.
Sample B: Emphasis on the strings, good imaging. Horns felt a bit muddy.
Sample C: Voices had a nice clarity, treble was nice too. The imaging was very good but the soundstage felt maybe a little narrow.
Sample D: Emphasis on drums and piano, good imaging, good level of detail, especially in the metal part.
Sample E: Level of detail, clarity, imaging and soundstage were all good. Overall excellent sound presentation. The best of the bunch to my ears.
Now, I had to guess, sample E being clearly better than the rest, I would say it is the HD 800s.
Sample B being quite awful, especially in the jazzy part before the metal track, it could be the AKG K240 studio.
Sample A was quite open and good overall. I think it was my good old Porta Pro.
Maybe the samples are in the same order as in the video. That would be my final guess.
Now, I waiting for the results.
*My DAC, amp and source had the same volume and settings during listening.
**Here is the listening set-up I have used:
DAC: Hidisz S9
Pre amp: xDuoo MT-601 with 6N23P Reflector tube
Amp: FiiO Q3
Headphones: Focal Elegia with Meze balanced cable
We had very similar analysis, but rendered different answers. This is awesome. Goes to show how important one of these is.
@@menocorde Likewise in many respects. I think I even came up with the same answers as Oldkid. I wouldn't have described A as 'sparkling or airy' though.
what's the song's title?
2 headphones with exactly the same frequency response with the available measuring systems of today, are sounding exactly the same ?
No, it wont be the same. There are other factors that have influence on sound, especially with on/over ear headphones.
@@dam1x92 thanks for your reply Damian - i am asking Oluv for his opinion... hope that he will answer as well.
@@dam1x92 if the response hitting your ear drum is the same they will sound the same, that’s just a fact. Everyone claiming differently denies science
@@oluvsgadgets One thing what you forgot Oluv, the waveforms coming out from the speakers are never perfect. A perfect sine wave will alwasy be distorted some way, maybe getting a bit jagged or similar depending on the electric characteristics of the headphone. That can make clearly hearable differences, although I think rather between some very old and new headphones, and mainly because of the differences between the strength of the magnets and the characteristics of the coil. Of course the size and the material of the membranes are making some differences. However if you tune to the max. abilities of the worse headphone in a bunch, and you don't pick some very old headphone, but rather all with similar a newer electronic components you won't hear big differences, maybe some tiny ones. That is only my assumption, and it is not based on any experience, but theoretically it should be true.
@@oluvsgadgets While that's true, fixing the frequency response that is sent to the driver won't fix what the driver actually plays (damping, speed, etc), and it definitely doesn't fix the frequency response that actually hits the ear drums (resonances, phase shifts, anything affected by the shape of the space between the driver and the ears).
EQ can help, but it doesn't and can't fix everything.
Only the first song. I cannot tell wich one I like the most (maybe B). I was blown away by none of them. I can tell that I do not pick the 800s anywhere (maybe B ?)
Audioquest Nightowl carbon with custom earpads more neutral sounding with a tiny little too much treble, soundstage good, imaging good, balanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : not good congested
B : more air and separation but the mids are meh
C : nice at first, a little too much treble, lack a little bass, a little too agressive
D : not good congested, sounds like the porta pro
E : sounds like an hifiman, the voice is a little too much behind the instruments
Oppo PM3 with different leather earpads, neutral to my ears despite the lack of subbass, narrow soundstage, balanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : not good at all congested, no resolution on the voice
B : more air and separation but the mids are meh, congested, lacks treble
C : ok but lacks air
D : same sensation but better than with the Nightowl
E : sounds like an hifiman, the voice is a little too much behind the instruments, not full sounding
1more Triple Headphones heavily modified, neutral sounding except piercing treble on some tracks, wide soundstage despite being closed backs, excellent imaging, unbalanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : ok, but the voice meh, feels a narrow soundstage
B : nice, a little too hot on treble, too cold on bass, but I liked it
C : meh, and voice very meh, boring
D : sounds ok, neutral/balanced, mids meh, resolution nothing special
E : not good, really sounds like an exagerated Hifiman
Senfer DT6 IEM, neutral to my ears, bass can be huge depending on the tips used, treble can be metallic sounding on certain tracks, soundstage and imaging "normal", unbalanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1
A : I definitely do not like the voice, a little too boomy
B : nice, good separation, a little bright but I like it
C : mids meh, darkish sounding
D : not bad, but nothing special, better than with the other headphones I wore
E : problem in the mids as always
Dunu Titan 1es IEM, very neutral sounding to my ears, soundstage and imaging and resolution are "normal", can be a little bright on certain tracks and depending on tips used, unbalanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : meh and very aggressive treble
B : nice, except agressive treble
C : mids meh, sounds low resolution, agressive treble
D : not bad at all, a little dull on mids, tamed treble, seems logical if it's the porta pros
E : not that bad, a little too dark
So maybe my Dunu is too bright afterall...
Senfer DT9, subtle harman V shaped sounding with very little downsides, soundstage imaging and resolution above average, rarely too bright sounding, unbalanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : not bad at all, I except the voice to be a little better
B : definitely better, am I biased ? a little too much treble and bright sounding
C : not bad at all but meh resolution, sounds neutralish to my ears
D : boomy, meh mids, a little too V shaped
E : not bad at all but I definitely thinks it's the Hifiman
Moondrop Quarks IEM, mid centric, boring but pretty neutral, average soundstage imaging and resolution, unbalanced on a E1DA Powerdac v2.1 :
A : voice not good, the rest okish
B : ok, nice, a little light on bass, nice separation
C : dull
D : boomy, mids meh, low resolution
E : lol, so Hifiman ! Not that bad, relaxed sounding, a little too bright
I had my choices as C as a little clearer, B wasn't far behind. D was there as well but the bass was a little strange at some points. A and E a little too muddy for me. Audeze Modius.
Listened again with Philips X2HR and ifi ZEN and will stick with C-B-D. This will be interesting. Looking forward to it Oluv.
Can you test the Sennheiser HE1? Many says that it's the Best sounding headphones ever made.
You give me the money?
I thought the N700 M2 would sound similar to the K361 but it's a boomy mess. I'm disappointed 😬
Would love to see a video comparing the new sennheissers like the HD599 to the HD58x and gold standard HD600
I am planning a HD560S, HD600, HD650, HD660S comparison, but only on Patreon due to copyright issues, I cannot play any music here on public UA-cam
@@oluvsgadgets HD599 would be really cool too, i hear its supposed to be remarkable. Also maybe with and without DAC for each because people always curious to know whether they can get the same quality out of the box or need more gear.
I have a sporta pro, I heard they sound similar to a porta pro, my sporta pro by default seemed to me too bright in the upper middle and the bass was somehow not very expressive if I did not raise it additionaly in the equalizer. I would not call these headphones completely dark, since the brightness in the middle makes itself felt. My PMX 95 by the defaults without any eqs sounds more natural and not harsh on the middle, and the bass more complete and enjoyable which i liked more.
a headphone will sound good when you will only notice how the music is made, not how the headphone transduces the music. this can only be accomplished by earcanal compensated EQ
@@cuerex8580 I just choose headphones that by default physically sound the way I like)
@@user-yz6xx2wl5d i think that this is a lie humans like to keep telling themselves because i did too. since a couple of days ago, i came to the conclusion that resonance in your inner-ear is EVERYTHING.
thus if you don't EQ the headphone to resonate like natural sound in your ear, you are simply lying to yourself that this is what nature sounds like when you take your headphones off.
so the question remains, do you wanna adjust to a wrong FR profile of your headphone with your brain so you perceive nature wrong? because how long do you need to listen to have this kind of "burn-in". 1 minute? 1 hours? 1 months? adjusting to a wrong frequency signature in your inner ear?
this is simply dishonesty of accepting that your earcanal needs a specific FR to perceive natural sound from closerange transmitters such as headphones and in-ears.
it is absolutely necessary for me now, to EQ everything to my hearing capabilities that immitate nature and how i perceive sounds, when i take off my headphones.
@@cuerex8580 That's right, we listen to resonances and at certain frequencies they create the necessary beautiful colors for music and amplify certain frequencies, but I'm not talking about the ear, but about the resonances that the headphones themselves reproduce inside their structure. Resonance can also spoil the sound if the headphones are poorly thought out, you just need to know at which frequencies the resonance is useful and gives naturalness and the correct color and at which it spoils the sound, for example, at the lower frequencies there are more useful resonances, such as those on the principle of which acoustic instruments are made. I have not studied the changes that the ear itself makes to the perception, in any case, based on your own feelings, you can judge which headphones are right for you.
For me, natural sounding is sound without crime, not too bright and not too dark, transparent open musical sound, that's enough. As for lying to yourself, if you buy headphones and they do not play right out of the box by default as you like and with any kind of crime, then yes, you are lying to yourself relying on mythical warm-ups and other audiophile miracles, but this does not apply to me since I do not rely on it and do not believe in it.
I did not understand what you are talking about here, if I buy headphones that I like without any settings, my brain does not need to get used to it, I just enjoy it, as with my Sennheiser PMX 95, for example, which suit me completely in sound without any settings.
Just listen to the music, I'm not sure if the software-based adjustment methods are superior to the initially physically well-designed headphones that suit your sound perception.
@@user-yz6xx2wl5d that is the goal that i'm talking about. a sound that doesn't feel like you need to adjust something. most headphones don't give me this feeling and i have the urge to EQ. the same applies for speakers by the way but room compensation tools exist thankfully. we don't have cheap earcanal compensation yet though sadly. there are some pricey manufacteurers that create professionally molded eartips but who is gonna spend $2000 just for that.
For me the "C" sample sounded more detailed with a ~3% difference from the rest. Strange, but I got "sound nervous" listening the other samples. I was listening via Bluetooth on a Huawei FreeBuds Studio with my own flat EQ done with the Neutralizer app, no ANC.
C to me sounded harsh vs the others
2:49 3:20
Comparing the AKG NC with the Sennheiser, I actually thought the top end sounded OK on the akg. The bass boost is just way too high, and it's masking too many frequencies - like the harmonics of the bass strings and the bongo is very hard to perceive. Still, I think if you just lowered the bass, they could get pretty close for a closed back.
The K24 had the opposite problem. It was quite thin, and the brightness or air was boosted a bit. This makes no sense since it's already open back, and you already cut the bass. Why boost the highs even more, AKG? The Sennheiser beats it in every way, being fuller sounding and less fatiguing.
Koss sound a little bit muffled but nice.
A- overall worst, boomy loose bass, not much details
B- good fast punchy bass, very harsh treble (maybe Hifiman)
C- soft and punchy bass, mids with very little detail and also harsh but dynamics are good, treble is soft but detailed
D- punchy bass with medium quality, dynamic mids with low resolution, very harsh treble
E- precise bass but not much punch, detailed mids with realism, bit sharp highs but very detailed (most likely HD800)
I would liked to hear them all EQ to oratory1990 Harman curve, that would been interesting.
Can anyone tell me the best earbuds under 100$ range.
Just yesterday I ordered an AKG N700NC M2 for the office. They had a good price of 133 €. I hope I am not disappointed.
hey man what was your experience with them? I felt like maybe the only thing holding them back was the boosted bass but i guess that could be changed with the EQ on the app
@@thejmax1473 At that price, it's the only option. I adjusted the bass with eqvalizer. I can only compare them to the PXC 550, which are more comfortable and have better ANC. Watch out for the micro-usb on PXC 550.
@ yeah right? Not a lot of good options in the price range. Did they sound the same with the cable instead of bluetooth? I've read people saying it kind of changes the sound a bit
@@thejmax1473 I haven't tried the cable connection yet. But it makes sense.
Ecualizador para soundcore life q30? please
I like D the best but the rest all sounded very close!
i thought the akg n700 m2 sounded nice. great bass and nice highs vocals sounded great
Oluv dislikes anything which has any trace of sub bass.. I listened to his Q30 equalizer preset, which he claims outperforms any consumer headphones on the market right now, and found them to sound anemic and totally off. Since then, I always take his opinions on headphones with a grain of salt. I usually trust RTINGS to give me a good idea of the performance of headphones.
@@fenjen aah, thats a shame. chad sub bass vs virgin upper bass 🙏
The N700 was the best one of the lot for me for the same reason.
@@fenjen I think this obsession with flatness misses the point for variety in headphones. That's why I like Zeos from Z reviews as he tries to consider different types of listeners. Not all headphone users want to have the same sound.
@@samuelshiels4608 Exactly, totally agree.
do not think that by equalizing the headphones in the same way they lose their own characteristics?. for example the H800 will sound like another headset but not like the HD800 itself and it will surely lose its soundstage. I do not understand why to insist on this thing
@@River_Miles i thing that soundstage is a combination of many factors , including FR. anycase the songs sound almost identical but not the headphones . To judge them we need to put them in our head 😄
You are unbelievable my friend , this is really interesting . scientifically speaking you are 100% correct, frequency response is what moves the speaker element to vibrate the airwaves to create the pressure against the eardrums. However as you mentioned our ears are different and the performance of each speaker is a little different in terms of speed of reaction and damping etc.. but yes if they can reproduce exactly same frequency response they should more or less sound identical . ok just finished listening to the files :) , i really thought i can at least spot the Koss in this bunch but i really cant, you are a master of recording headphones, i would go and take a chance and say E is koss :) but they are all so similar at least in my headphones right now , when i go home i will try with my more revealing headphones . Thanks for this experiment.
3:09 why does it say he 4xx if it is a 5xx?
Dovresti mettere PRIMA l' audio originale per un giudizio paragone
There. Blind testing FTW.
E: Porta Pro - D: HD 820 - B: Hifiman - A: K240 - C: K702
What is the name of the song?
i’m curious too! cannot find it…
u talking about the beats headphone line up?
well, I have nothing against resonances at low frequencies within reasonable limits)
What is being used to tune flat anyway?
pink noise
@@2silkworm oh I see, and with what EQ software or hardware and which?
@@eddiebaby22 it's better if Oluv answers this question. I don't know all details. I onky know that he uses software 10-band parametric eq. Also you can generate pink noise with many software programs.
@@2silkworm OK great thanks, I expect Oluv is busy with so many subscribers 👍 I'm surprised he can balance so well with just 10 bands EQ, he's done a remarkable job of getting these headphones to sound close to each other.
Immer noch der H6 am Chord Mojo🥰
Can you please put me out of my misery and tell me what C is please? I don't care what the others are. I hate waiting and surprises. Love your channel btw Oluv.
Koss Porta Pro. 😂
@@YewGeni4711 I hope so! It'll be a win win!
There is no point in guessing which one is which. On audacity we can see where these differ from one another, they all sound very similar and im sure that after a while it is possible to tell the recordings apart, these differences are possibly due to the difficulty in equalizing all to the exact same response. That said even though they can all be made to output a pratically identical sound to us judging from our own headphones, it must be a lot easier for Oluv to tell them apart.
My guesses
A = HD800S
B = HE4XX
C = K240 Studio
D - Porta pro
E - N700 M2
They all sound ridiculously similar, EQ is an amazing tool
That third song is stuck in my head now, thanks lol